Directionality preferences in Spanish sign language interpreting

Abstract

Oral language interpreters consider working towards their mother tongue as the easiest and most preferred direction. However, different studies that address this issue in sign language interpreting conclude that most of its professionals prefer to work in the opposite direction, even if it is not their mother tongue. In order to check whether this phenomenon also occurs with Spanish sign language interpreters (ILSE), an exploratory-descriptive quantitative study was carried out by means of a questionnaire with the participation of 101 professionals. Among the main results, it is observed that, as in other sign languages, ILSEs show a preference for interpreting into the signed language, and their self-perceived quality is presumed to be better in that direction. Although there is no doubt that both types of interpreting offer different challenges to any interpreter, it is indisputable that this opposite tendency that sign language interpreters claim to have makes clear the need to open lines of research to help understand the reason for this preference and to analyze whether there is a concordance between this preference and the actual performance in interpreting.